Judicial panel cites lack of cooperation

The head of a Pakistani commission investigating the killing of journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad has expressed concern at the lack of cooperation from reporters and the public, saying this could slow down the probe.

The head of a Pakistani commission investigating the killing of journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad has expressed concern at the lack of cooperation from reporters and the public, saying this could slow down the probe.

Justice Saqib Nisar of the Supreme Court, who heads the commission set up to probe the kidnapping and murder of Shahzad, said no one had come forward to help the panel despite requests made through media advertisements.

The panel had only received a call from someone who suggested it should approach a "Pir Baba" at Chakwal in Punjab who would lead it to the murderer and a compact disc from a person in Quetta, Nisar said while presiding over the second meeting of the panel on Saturday.

Information secretary Taimur Azmat, who is also the secretary of the commission, told reporters after the meeting that authorities had provided the panel Shahzad's cell phone records. The Federal Investigation Agency's cyber wing had been asked to access the slain journalist's email records, he said.

The National Highway Authority was directed to obtain toll plaza records and footage from CCTV cameras on the highway between Islamabad and Mandi Bahauddin, where Shahzad's body was found.

The director of the FIA's cyber crime wing, Shahid Nadeem Baloch, told the commission he was unable to go through Shahzad's laptop.